Another Hero of the People
by phantomdare1
Summary: After trying to get back to Amestris, Ed and Al land in the world of Reborn, apparently turning into fifteen year olds as a price. After meeting with the most unlikely characters, they are sent to Namimori to watch a certain Vontola Tenth candidate...
1. Another Day, Another Life

**Another Hero of the People- Chapter 1- Another Day, Another Life**

* * *

Ed wiped his forehead, satisfied with his work. After a whole three years of traveling, especially in times of war, they had one, managed to stop the plans to a uranium bomb, only to miss the fact that the Americans had a hydrogen bomb that blew up two cities in Japan (Al had to stand Ed's cursing when they saw the news), and two, here they were in their apartment, not knowing if it would work. Well, in the end, they were fully satisfied.

Al, who was munching on his small breakfast, watched as Ed circled around their transmutation circle, one that they had spent weeks and weeks calculating. It was fairly large, taking up the whole room, but somehow, they still felt doubtful. Ever since they came to this world, it was like they weren't really the great alchemists of Amestris, but more like the everyday mysterious guys who walk along the street. They still hadn't like this, but it was no real matter.

"Brother…" Al noticed the look on Ed's face. He was intrigued with how his brother acted, in almost everything.

"Al, can you pass the chalk over?" Ed looked up from where he had been kneeling. "One of the marks is smudged."

The younger brother nodded, and ran over with the box of the white powdery writing implements. The other smiled, and reached in, taking the longest one, and then continuing to do his work. Strangely, and suddenly, it had been the previous year the one day, Ed had shot up in height, a foot taller, maybe almost Hoeinheim's height. Ed did twitch his brow when Al mentioned that, but the older brother was glad he was at a reasonable height.

"Alright, Al," Ed placed the chalk back. "It's done! And now I think our ride to Reesembool will be coming in no time."

Al nodded and smiled. He was happy whenever his brother was happy. Well, better enough, Ed had mellowed out in temper over the years, now knowing that he had no reason to beat anyone for calling him short, so that was good.

"So, brother?" Al asked. "Do we need to bring anything back?"

"Hm?" Ed looked up. "No. I don't think so, unless you want to bring home something metal and shiny for Winry to tinker with."

Al smiled and felt a lump of fur crawling by his leg. Nina, the brown-black tabby cat, was purring softly. And finally, Al was able to get a cat. Calling it Nina, however, gave nostalgic memories to the older brother, though.

"Can we bring Nina back with us?"

Ed seemingly froze for a moment, but then he recollected himself. "Sure! No problem!"

Al smiled warmly at his brother, and this lasted for a moment when Al turned on his heel. "We're going now, right?"

"Yep!" Ed cheerily jumped to his feet and then headed for the coat rack. Al was already at the center of the transmutation circle, cuddling the tabby kitten in his arms. Ed hastily jumped in, and immediately then clapped their hands together and placed side by side on the circle. As expected, the circle turned blue, crackling with electricity, and the it danced round about them, engulfing them in light, when suddenly they saw not a gate, but a single black hole.

"Wha-" Ed didn't get a chance to finish his words before disappearing with Al.

They both landed with a thud on a grassy lawn. They shook their heads to ease the dizziness, and they were in a park, a quiet and blissful one. Al then turned his eyes on his brother, and he suddenly turned pale. Ed looked up in question.

"What's with your face?" Ed teased. "We made it back."

"E-Ed…" the younger Elric pointed at Ed. "Why are you exactly my height..."

"Huh?"

"And… you look like you're only fourteen…"

Ed then scrambled to a nearby fountain, found his reflection, and his mouth gaped. He wasn't really short as he was before, thank goodness… but he was definitely younger… He looked up at Al, who was still pale.

"Uh… Al… my clothes feel looser… and since when did you lose a foot in height? You're no taller than one quarter of that lamppost back there!"

Al then turned white as a sheet as he stared at his one reflection.

"What kind of Equivalent Exchange is this!!!???"

---*---

"Roy Mustang." Riza's voice echoed. The man looked up at his worried subordinate. "Are you tired, General?"

He smirked. "I'm not General around these parts anymore. Just call me Roy."

"Sorry, but it's too much of a habit…" Riza bowed. Roy practically enjoyed this moment. The day when female subordinates wore miniskirts, will sort of. Riza was wearing a business set of attire. A lavender dress shirt under her black blazer and tie. Her hair was pinned up as usual, and she held a clipboard in one arm. In addition, she wore high heels.

"You may leave or stay, whatever you like…" Roy smiled. He, too, was in a modern business suit. He rather much liked his uniform, and his own suit and long coat, but he and the others knew they couldn't walk around with Amestris written all over them.

Why was he and Major Hawkeye like this? Simple. They made a huge mistake. On the same exact day Ed and Al returned to the other world. Al had given Roy the job of destroying the Gate. He did it, eventually, but at great costs.

Winry, Havoc, Breda, Fury, and Armstrong were present at the site. They too wanted to watch the Gate close, when suddenly, once Roy succeeded in breaking one wall of the gate, the other fell with it. And a large black hole replaced it instead. A strange gust of wind swept all of them through the hole, and that was how they ended up in the grass of a park.

The Equivalent Exchange, of yes, the price they paid, was a years. They rubbed their heads in annoyance, only to find that obviously Roy and his crew, and Armstrong were unharmed, but as for Winry… she looked and talked like as if she were fourteen again. They soon paled at the sight when they realized.

Roy dismissed the thought. He felt less happier by the second. Of course, he missed the times when he could taunt Ed for his height, and hear the younger boy's screams and rants. If only Ed and Al were here…

Their entry to this new world was different, more modern, one could suppose. It all started when they were walking around, the streets, when a passersby brushed right past Winry's shoulder, reaching an arm out to grasp her shoulder. She had shrieked, and the others whirled around, and without delay, Riza drew her pistol and hit the man dead on. Nothing surpasses this eye of a hawk.

Strange enough, no one actually minded that the man Hawkeye shot was dead, which made Roy even queasier… What kind of civilian world was this?

They remembered meeting someone very similar to Van Hoeinheim, but he had no idea who they were, however. But he took them in, and noticing how unfamiliar with their surroundings, he helped them out a bit or two…

Luckily, they were all able to return to supposedly "normal" lives again for two years, once they got the hang of the technology. Havoc, Breda, and Fury shared an apartment, while Riza and Roy had their own. Armstrong, of course, had his own special apartment (not really, he just called it "special"), and Winry was all by herself. Ever since the fact that she had lost some years, she had to start her four years over again. However, Roy always said:

_"At least you're luckier than Fullmetal."_

Tired of reminiscing, Roy stood up and decided to go on a brisk stroll in the park. This new city they were living in… it was rather more advanced than what he had been used to. Now, telephone calls could be made without the use of a wire, and the new sleek design was rather intriguing. This was what Cattania was like…

He let the breeze sweep past his ears until he heard a familiar voice…

"What kind of Equivalent Exchange is this?!!!!!????"

Roy jumped at the voice, nearly crashing into a nearby trash can.

"Fu-Fullmetal?" The words barely reached his lips.

"My god! I can't believe I'm not short when I'm fifteen again!!!!" Ed's voice rang out from behind the grove of bushes. That was definitely Ed's voice, Roy thought to himself, and he dashed right round the corner to see the least expected.

Ed was merely staring at his reflection in the fountain, gawking as Al was running in circles exasperatedly. Roy couldn't help but burst out in laughter when Ed stood up, and clenched his fists.

"General Bastard, what's so fun-" Ed realized something, and cranked his head sideways to look at the General. "G-general?"

"You're Edward Elric?" Roy stopped laughing, and was asking.

"Of course, you idiot!" Ed stomped his automail foot. "Who else would I be? Armstrong?"

"Uh… Fullmetal…" Roy stifled a laugh. He still hadn't changed. "You've gotten shorter…"

"Oh, really?!" Ed folded his arms. "I think I realized that I've turned back five years younger! Thanks for reminding me, bastard!"

Roy then stopped his humorous thoughts when he realized Ed's last retort.

"Younger?"

"What?"

"I mean… you've lost a couple years?"

"Yes! Do I need to speak any louder?!" A stress mark was developing on Ed's forehead. Al then noticed the look on Roy's face.

"General…" He began. "Did it happen to someone else, too?"

"Uh… um…"

"Finally!!!" Ed stretched his arms wide open as if he were waking up. "We're back in Amestris!"

Roy then looked up at Ed's statement, and then he looked down. Both brothers noticed that, too.

"Is… is something wrong, Mustang?" Ed asked carefully. Roy turned back with a stern look on his face.

"Sorry…" He said sympathetically. "This isn't Amestris, Fullmetal. You jumped through another world again."

Ed and Al's eyes widened, as they then scrambled over him for questions.

"Didn't you destroy the Gate?!"

Roy was quite flustered. "Well, yes, but-"

"Why am I younger?!"

"That I canno-"

"How about you? How did you get here?!"

"Fullmetal! Alphonse!" He yelled at the two. "Get a hold of yourselves! Now everyone's looking at us!"

Funny thing, Ed was screaming and shouting his heart out when everyone seemed to stop in their place to glare at him.

"Uh… um… sorry?"

---*---

Roy calmly took the brothers back to the apartment building he lived in, adding in about how he got through a strange black hole instead of a gate and landed in Italy. He didn't mention the others who were with him, however, for that was their own surprise.

He approached the door of his apartment, and jammed the key into its place. Ed had been so intrigued with the technology himself when they passed by the streets. Well, here was the new modern world, wasn't it?

"Riza, I'm home!" Roy called out, and the brothers paled. Why was Riza here?!

The familiar blond woman gave the former general a heartwarming hug when she looked over past his shoulder to see the least expecting sight.

"E-Edward…? Alphonse…?" She stuttered those syllables, and Ed gave a nice smirk.

"Sure am!" He said proudly. Alphonse was too busy clinging on this his kitten to wave. Then immediately, the two were squashed into a tight hug.

"Oh, I miss you two so much?!" She said as she turned to Roy. "Roy… do the others know they're here?"

"Not yet…" Roy smiled, and she smiled back. Ed's eyes trailed from her happy face to the clear diamond ring on her finger. He immediately stepped back to point from Riza and Roy, well, he kept pointing back and forth.

"Hawkeye… Mustang… YOU TWO ARE MARRIED?!!?!!?" He shouted, and Al nearly fell over at the side. Even if the two of them were fifteen again, some things never change…

Hawkeye smiled and Roy walked over to help her up.

"Come, we've got more people to show you."

---*---

"ED?!!!!??" The deep bellowing voice was too good not to miss. Ed cringed as a tall buff man began to squeeze the living daylight out of him and his brother, the feet dangling above the floor by a foot.

"Can't… breathe…" Al gasped, and they found themselves crumpling upon the floor.

"I didn't expect to see you again!" Armstrong started his passionate oration. "How dramatic! How touching! How tear-jerking is this meeting!"

"Uh… hi, Major…" Ed nervously waved, his hands still numb.

A nearby door opened, and a brown haired man with a cigar in his mouth peeked out, and saw the party going on outside.

"Ed! You're here!!!" Havoc rushed back into the room. "Breda! Fury! Guess who's back!!!???"

"Who?"

"Ed! And Al!"

All three of them scrambled out of the apartments to reach the young alchemist, and everyone was jumping and welcoming each other. Thank goodness they occupied the whole floor of the apartment here. Then the silence stopped when the final door creaked open. Ed froze, knowing just who it would be… when a wrench immediately came flying at his head. He was immediately thrust back, and probably causing a dent in the opposite wall, he crumpled to the floor a second time.

"Why do you leave at the wrong time!!" A voice yelled into his ear. Ed chuckled.

"Good to see you, too, Winry…" He said.

"Brother!!!" Al ran to his side, helping him up. Ed felt completely out of balance. Being hugged and then hit with a wrench was not so fun, really…

Then a round of laughing and hugging and storytelling ensued when finally, Ed finally brought up a question.

"So, General," he began. "Since you're not a general anymore, what do you make for a living now?"

Roy then froze, paling very profusely until he was as white as a sheet. Riza jumped at the question, and Breda, Havoc, and Fury swallowed nervously. Armstrong then stopped posing. Winry was still holding on to Ed's automail arm for support. Al looked at the scared ones, not understanding what was going on.

"Well, speak up." Ed said loudly.

"We… we…" Riza tried to speak, but couldn't bring herself to say it.

Roy then took the light. "We've been part of the mafia since we came here. It's like we're killing machines again, Fullmetal. We're hitmen now."

**A/N: yup! total rewrite. thought the plot wasn't so great at first, so I had to start a different one.**


	2. Loyal to His Duty

**Another Hero of the People – Chapter 2 – Loyal to His Duty**

* * *

They received complete silence from the brothers. Generally before, Ed's outbursts were terrifying to a degree, but his silence is even scarier. Goodness, the boy really did grow up. It wasn't long before Ed opened his mouth.

"Hitmen?" The words were coated with a caustic end. He was intending to be quite calm, but his voice made everyone still fear for an upcoming rant.

Winry bowed her head slightly, she could feel Ed tense, judging from what she felt through his arms. Roy sighed.

"Yes."

The defeated answer was answered by a snort. Honestly, people were hopeless, weren't they? Ed could easily palm his face in disappointment, but he'd rather make the point clear to everyone.

"How low can you go, General Bastard?" Ed raised an eyebrow. "Now you're an assassin for hire! And you guys, too?"

"We're sorry, Chief…" Havoc sighed. "But we had no choice… because…"

"Because?" Al asked, his stern eyes flitting to the man. Al was always they type to tranquilly express fury. All of Roy's office knew that too well.

"Well, Roy actually has to keep his cover."

"And why?"

Another moment of silence ensued as everyone stared at the man responsible for this mess. Roy shook his head and then walked to his apartment door.

"Ed, Al, get inside. Talking about personal things out here aren't good signs…"

Before the brothers could say anything, they were roughly shoved into the apartment by the buffy major.

* * *

"The Vongola Family," Roy began once everyone settled in a seat. "is a mafia family, the most powerful family at the current time, and has been for more than a century."

"So you work for these goons?" Ed asked, and Roy nodded. As a former dog of the military, he hated excess disorder, and mafia was obviously on that list.

"Yes, the family we work for is the Vongola Family." Mustang explained. "As you know, the family must have someone at the top, the boss, Don Vongola, they call him. As a boss, he has many subordinates. Because the family is so large, a Vongola boss must chose seven of his most trusted subordinates to be Guardians, or underbosses, you might say. Of course, these 'Guardians' have subordinates of their own, the web goes on and on."

Alphonse raised his eyebrow at the term Guardians. What type of Guardian does he mea? Ed's steely eyes gave quick glint of surprise. Back at Amestris, he had heard of crime syndicates, but he usually wasn't the one to deal with those organizations, since he was busy traveling the country for alchemy research. He barely even knew how a crime syndicate even operated, to say the least.

Ed and Al couldn't help but noticed that Mustang wore on his hand a red gemmed ring. The silver band was engraved with symbols, including a large recognizable circle which Ed recognized to be the array for flame alchemy. The most notable trait was a salamander shaped ruby pressed into the silver ring. Along with a wedding ring, Hawkeye wore a blue ring with winged engravings. Winry wore an indigo ring with an identical pattern to Hawkeye. Fury, Armstrong, and Breda wore yellow rings. Havoc wore a green ring.

The two brothers watched with quavering curiosity, and Al finally pointed out the strange jewelry.

"General, what are those rings for?"

Roy explained. "Identification in the family is crucial, in this case, identification by rings. Each Guardian has a specific weather and corresponding color attribute. Usually, subordinates of the Guardians tend to wear the rings that attribute to their boss, but nowadays, they were the colors that suit them best. Independent hitmen wear rings of their own color of the seven rainbow colors, usually to describe their personality… or something. Now can we get back to the subject?"

Mustang received a quick nod.

"Two years ago, one of the most trusted independent hitmen under Vongola, by the name of Roy Mustang, disappeared. By hushed murder or hiding, the public doesn't know. The truth? He was killed by a rival family, but it hasn't been confirmed if he lived or not. For them, at least… The Vongola family mourned for their companion's death in secret. Fortunately, here is the new Roy Mustang."

Al stared in awe at the General, realizing what Roy's plans were, and the man cleared his throat.

He announced. "It's not much, since I'm not a Guardian and such, but I'm still 'highly respected.' By now, my status gives me almost as much authority as a Guardian, anyway."

"Still… a high member of a mafia family…" Ed smiled. "Not bad, General. Not bad at all…"

"Well, couldn't go walking around casually if I looked like some famous and dangerous person," Roy sighed. "If I hadn't been found earlier by the Ninth, then I would have been dead meat."

"You have your gloves, right?" Al sat up. "You would've beaten assassins easily."

"Well, that just brings more suspicion," Havoc shook his head. "Alchemy is not a familiar art in this world. The only reason Chief can perform alchemy is because of his supposedly former status as pyromaniac assassin. If Roy randomly blew up half an alleyway, they'd think that Chief was that Roy but with upgraded weapons or something, then they'd seriously go after him. That way, Roy would never get a break."

"Well, that's what mafia's like," Armstrong sighed. "They never give a rest until the job's done."

Al and Ed's sweatdropped. _That sounds… brutal._

A knock on the door, made everyone in the room jerk upright, and everyone was on guard at a moment's notice. Mustang got up and headed for the door, opening it cautiously. Before him a shady man a head taller than the Flame Alchemist was nervously fidgeting with his sleeves. Ed assumed that this man was part of the "Vongola" Roy had mentioned.

"Mustang-sama," The man bowed politely. "The Don wishes to see you immediately."

"I see," Mustang frowned but nodded, and the shady man actually flew away, running as fast as he could go. Ed and Al sweatdropped again.

"You really scare people with your eye patch, that much, General?" Al asked. Roy didn't say anything.

"Yeah, they think I'm a son of a pirate, or something," He joked. "Actually, they think I'll blow them up if they get too close. I think I should get those glass eyes people talk about."

"Even the other Guardians are quite scared of Roy sometimes," Havoc laughed. "And they've only seen him angry one time only. It's funny how the old and new Roy Mustang have the same exact personality."

"Wow." Ed rolled his eyes. "Typical people."

Having understood the underling's report, Roy turned to his bedroom. He then looked at Ed and Alphonse.

"What are you standing there for?" He snapped slightly. "We're have to get going really soon. Those clothes you're wearing won't do well in this era, Fullmetal, and Alphonse, too. Riza, you might happen to have any smaller suits for them, do you?"

"I might," Riza nodded, and she walked away. The others dispersed from the room at the same time, leaving the two brothers whirling in confusion. Riza then sighed.

"If you don't want Roy to be snap-happy, hurry along."

* * *

A car drove through a small grove of trees and into a lush meadow of flower gardens and fountains. Al couldn't help but be awed by the numerous plants and art displays, including the car they drove in. Back at Amestris, cars were rugged and moderately fast, but this car was sleek, and was probably two times faster.

Meanwhile, Ed was having difficulty with being used to having a tie wound about his neck. He constantly yanked at the offending strip of cloth to make it loose, just a bit, so he won't choke. Al turned around, and had to assist him for a moment there.

"Brother…" Al sighed. "I think this is probably really formal or important."

Both brothers were wearing white dress shirts, black ties, black blazers, and black trousers. Ed looked at Al and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah… otherwise we wouldn't have to look like we're going to a dinner party or something."

"Well, it's technically uniform code if you step onto Vongola estates," Havoc explained. "Took me and Breda a while to get it right. Armstrong… well, you know him… can't keep his shirt on for a minute."

The car stopped before a large mansion, probably the same size as the main building back at Central. Al gasped in awe once again at the splendor of the estate, and followed everyone stepping out of the car as the driver in the car sped away to park the vehicle in a hidden garage.

Ed then looked ahead, where Roy and Riza walked confidently up the steps. Several sharp men stood about the front door, and upon the sight of Roy Mustang, they straightened to the point of looking as stiff as a board and lined up according to height. The action somewhat reminded Ed of what the officers did when the Fuhrer passed by, except no salutes. He then wondered if Mustang, or maybe the former Mustang, had trained them to line up like that.

"Roy Mustang," One of them stepped up, but with some rigidity. "The Ninth is in the office. He has been awaiting your visit."

"Thank you, Benedetti," Roy nodded politely, and two of the group of mobsters opened the doors graciously for him and his team to enter. They all strode in calmly as they approached an elevator at the end of the front corridor past the foyer. Ed couldn't help but be amazed by the numerous ornamental displays of flags and paintings hung about the walls. What he found most interesting was that a lot of the flags displayed a lion with orange fire for a shaggy mane.

The elevator door slid open as they clambered in, with Armstrong taking up most of the space, of course. They stood inside the platform in silence. They boarded off the quick transportation device and continued down another set of corridors again. The brothers assumed that Roy must have known the mansion very well. After taking a quick glance of their surroundings, they knew they would have been bound to be lost in these places.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Ninth," Roy bowed, followed by everyone else, including Ed and Al, to be polite. An elderly man nodded and allowed them to stand up normally again. He then saw two new presences within Mustang's group.

"Oh? And who are these children you have brought here?" His kind gaze fell upon the two boys. "Are these relatives of Winry-chan?"

"No, Ninth," Roy answered. "These boys are Edward and Alphonse Elric. They are childhood friends of Winry. They recently moved here."

"Ah! I see , I see…" the Ninth smiled at the two boys. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Alphonse and Edward. Your officer had mentioned things about you numerous times around here. I must assure you that you may relax, since I know your origins quite familiarly."

Ed's shoulders tightened. "What do you mean by that?"

"I know about your title the Fullmetal Alchemist," The Ninth cheerfully replied with little uneasiness. "And that your home country is Amestris, which is not of this world. I can see you don't like to share that with others, but no worries. After going through the Gate multiple times and being betrayed numerous times on your journies, trusting people would be very difficult."

The Elric brothers let their stiff shoulders fall loose, and the Ninth motioned for them to take a seat in the leather couches near the unused fireplace. A bright lamp sat beside the armchair to compensate for the limited light that came through the windows and thick crimson drapery. The Ninth took a seat in the elaborately printed armchair and rested his elbows. Roy, Ed, Al, and Winry took a seat in one couch, while the others took the second.

"You have summoned me, Ninth," Roy reminded the elderly man, who laughed heartily upon realization.

"Ah, yes," Ninth nodded, and he recalled the details. "I understand that you want to travel a bit, according to Coyote."

"I believe so," Roy nodded.

"Then I have the assignment just for you," the Ninth smiled. "It'll be good for all you. It's even more convenient that the famed Elric brothers I've heard from you have arrived on time."

The Ninth assumed a thinking position.

"You see," He began. "I have finally chosen my successor, and news of a new upcoming Tenth boss has been spreading quickly. By now, even the rival families would have heard the rumors. Since currently, my successor is still fourteen, and he has no Guardians as of yet, I believe he'll need bodyguards. The Guardians must stay here, since there's still some unfinished business and conflicts erupting everywhere. I've sent Reborn there already, but I can't take any chances to send only one of our best hitmen. Mustang, you'll join Reborn in the city of Namimori… You've worked with him before, right?"

"Multiple times," the ebony-haired man nodded. Ed and Al wondered at who this Reborn was…

"That's good," The Ninth contemplated. "Bouche has already reserved several houses next door to the Tenth's home for you and your subordinates. That way, you can keep watch on him more easily, and for Reborn if he wishes not to stay at Decimo's home. Also, Winry, Edward, and Alphonse are going to attend Namimori Middle High School as first-years, which I believe my successor is currently attending, also of the same grade. I arranged for the school to always place you three in the same class with him. That way, guarding the Tenth at school grounds will be much easier. Understood?"

"Yes, Ninth," Winry nodded curtly, while Ed and Al stammered the same words, bowing their heads hastily. The Ninth rose to his feet.

"That is all," He smiled. "All traveling arrangements have been done, and you'll leave as soon as possible."

"Yes, Ninth." All the occupants of the room complied, and promptly exited.

* * *

Winry opened the door to her apartment, with a swipe of a key, surprising the two brothers. Gesturing the two boys to enter, she immediately headed for her closet, and pulled out a fairly sized duffle bag. She then raided her drawers for all her clothes, and neatly stuffed them all into the suitcase. She then procured two more suitcases from her bag, tossing them into Ed's face.

"W-What are these for?" Ed exclaimed.

"For your own clothes, stupid," Winry frowned. "There's some reasonable clothes for you to wear. Change into those clothes, and then pack your suits. I'll meet you at the front hall."

"How do you get clothes for guys?" Alphonse picked up a patterned button down shirt from the suitcase he received. "You're a girl aren't you?"

"Undercover," Winry replied flatly. "And gifts from other members of the family. I always get some love letter from them all…"

"Undercover?" Al shrieked. "You mean… you dressed up as a guy?"

"Yeah, that's right," Winry chose a set of clothes and headed for the restroom, slamming it shut. Within minutes she was out already, in blue jeans and a pale blue blouse, her hair pinned up similar to Hawkeye.

"Go change already."

"Y-yeah…" the two brothers stuttered before rushing to a nearby room of their own. Winry smiled at the two boys, and she opened her fourth suitcase, revealing a new automail arm and leg.

"About time, he's got an upgrade."

* * *

Roy and Riza were dressed like normal civilians, along with the rest of the 'office.' Winry was down the stairs, carrying a small handbag, while Ed and Al were staggering under the weight of four other suitcases, gasping for air.

"Winry, you're such a slave driver…" Fury sighed.

"It's training," She pressed, but Roy noticed that the boys were slightly pale.

"You look dead," He smiled. "Something wrong?"

"No…" Ed muttered. "I didn't know there was a artillery chamber in her kitchen…"

"All of the apartments here have it," Riza added. "This is technically a Vongola-owned complex. Normal civilians live here, too, but they won't be able to find out about the weapon compartments about the home."

"Oh…" Al paled. "That's great…"

* * *

"Whoa!" The Elrics gasped, amazed by the large airport. The ceiling was clear with large arching panes of glass, supported by white steel beams. The walls were glass, too, and crowds of people were hurrying past each other. Ed noticed one was holding a handheld phone with no wires, and another was busy tapping away on some book with moving pictures (remember, FMA world only had radios, not TV).

"You done gawking yet?" Winry smiled, and Al faced the blonde girl.

"It's amazing!"

"Well, there's more to see," Roy looked at the line to enter the hallway of airplane gates. He then took out a card, which Ed assumed was ID. Was he supposed to get one, too?

"Here," Winry handed him and Al the same two cards Roy had. "You can worry about the pictures later."

"T-Thanks…" Ed smiled. He then looked at the "metal detectors" Winry explained to him. She had told him of the new automail he sported.

_"It's a metal I developed in the past two years I was here. The Ninth was kind enough to let me use the labs. I added a mimic-flesh covering so gloves aren't necessary. This is a metal that cannot be detected by metal detectors to a certain level. You can pass through airport gates without worry. This is only for the Vongola, so don't tell anyone, okay?"_

Ed gazed at his new watch and followed closely behind Winry, nervously watching the others pass by. Back at Amestris, train stations were just as crowded, but he was fine with going about on a moving car across land… but what about the air? He's only been on a plane once, and surely, that was not a happy experience (He was too busy thinking about stopping Eckhart and helping Noah. Besides, he was the person who jumped off the plane).

"You're looking a little green, brother…" Alphonse sighed. "You're not air-sick, are you?"

"I'm green?" Ed jumped. "I'm fine! I'm not green! I'm perfectly well!"

"Says the person who didn't want to jump from the apple tree when he was an idiot to climb one," Winry teased, leading the older Elric into a perfect argument.

Roy and Riza watched the three "teenagers." He sighed. They were quite fun watch… children…

"Chief?" Havoc waved a hand in front of the ebony eyes. "The plane's gonna leave in ten minutes."

"R-Really!" Roy nearly leapt out of his skin and took off his gloves, which he had put on instinctively. "W-we really have to move soon. Hey, Fullmetal, Alphonse, Winry! Hurry up!"

The three children looked at his direction, and sprinted their way towards the adults, who headed for Gateway 18.

**A/N: Yay! Finally updated next chapter, and everyone's going to Japan! I actually bothered to search what the airport in Catania looks like, so my description slightly fits the real thing. I also set up a backup account on another website, so updates will be made simultaneously. Oh, and I took the idea of putting weapons in the kitchen from Mr and Mrs Smith (the part where the oven opens into a compartment for all these cool weapons was awesome. Using the backyard cellar for all your guns and bullets works too). Review soon!  
**


	3. Strange Neighbors

**Another Hero of the People – Chapter 3 – Strange Neighbors**

* * *

"Tsuna! Why are you taking so long?" Nana climbed the stairs and approached the door with a tuna sign on it. Knocking gently, she heard a surprised shriek.

Reborn, the new tutor, was staring at the door and Nana. Tsuna, the clumsy boy who fell at Reborn's feet a few minutes earlier, had fled to his room to change, wailing about how late he would be.

"Your tutor is going to escort you to school today," Nana reminded her son. "You shouldn't keep him waiting."

"He's not my tutor!" Tsuna exclaimed, swinging open the door. His hair was spiky, as always, and his tie, vest and dress shirt was wrinkled. His dark olive pants weren't in any better shape either. The shoulder strap of his book bag seemed very hastily fixed, seeing the many stitches running in random directions across it.

"Oh! Looks like you're ready!" Nana led the boy downstairs, while Reborn took the shortcut. He walked into Tsuna's room, noting how he will have to punish the boy for the state of his room. He jumped through the open window, and landed perfectly on the tree branch. Just as Tsuna was exiting the house, Reborn leapt from the tree and onto the stone fence, so quietly that Tsuna wouldn't see him. He took the opportunity to land on top of Tsuna's head, too.

"What's with that kid…" Tsuna muttered to himself. Reborn rolled his eyes (if he could).

"I'm a hitman," He spoke up, scaring the tar out of the brunette.

"A hitman? That's sil-" Tsuna stopped and looked up. "Hey? Since when did you-"

A barking Shiba Inu with black and white fur caused the boy to jump, and Reborn had to calm it down. As he was petting the puppy affectionately, he couldn't help but notice the tag on the collar. Firstly, the tag was the type worn by police dogs. Secondly, the tag read:

_Black Hayate_

_Hawkeye_

_3066_

Moreover, this dog seemed familiar…

"Hey, Tsuna."

"Y-yeah…?"

"Do you know who lives in this house?"

"No, not really… There was a moving truck into this house and the next one across the street. I didn't get to see their faces…"

"I see…" Reborn let his insight sink in, seeing that this dog's appearance was no coincidence.

_

* * *

Ed whistled in satisfaction at their new residence. This was all new to him. Usually floors were wooden, but from what Ed could see, they were actually tightly-woven straw mats…_

_ "Hm…" Roy looked at the floor. "Looks like those houses in Xing, but with better walls. I think I prefer plaster than bamboo."_

_ Winry, Alphonse, and Riza, who had never visited a Japanese home in their life, were busy running about the house, awed by the strange features of the home. Ed decided that he would explore later. Then another idea shook him._

_ "Wait… General?"_

_ "Hm?"_

_ "Is this Vongola-owned, too?"_

_ "Nope," Roy sighed. "That means we have to install weapon cabinets ourselves…"_

_ Ed looked away, finding more interest in the almost empty living room. Hearing anything about weapons from Roy was fine, but from Winry? He was hoping that she wouldn't use those to make him stay to get his automail changed… Having a wrench was quite enough._

_ "Hey, brother!" Alphonse yelled. "They have enough rooms for everyone! Hurry up, so you can choose the one you like!"_

_ "Won't they be the same…?" Ed sighed, and he tiredly climbed the stairs._

_

* * *

Ed woke up the next morning with little satisfaction. He hadn't bothered to take out his clothes from the suitcase he owned (Not like he had much…). Secondly, he was frustrated by the fact that his room's window faced a wall. A freakin' wall. Moreover, it was facing another window, and he couldn't be more surprised by the fact that he was facing the buffiest major in the Amestrian army._

_ "GOOD MORNING, ELRIC!"_

_ Ed waved weakly, and immediately let the blinds slide down across the window. Privacy was a very delicate matter… Today was the day he would attend that "Namimori High…" He was appalled he could read the language, but then he wasn't, either. Strange, isn't it…_

_Before he did anything about the Shamballa ordeal, he immersed himself in books of other languages. Being the brilliant man he was, he was very soon fluent in English, German, and Japanese (books in Japanese were really rare, but he kept at it). He also had Alphonse read, who picked up the tongues as fast as he did, and soon they were blabbering away in four different languages. Seeing that everyone else with him had two years, they probably learned, too._

_ But his mind strayed to the view of the window of the next house… he was ashamed…_

* * *

"Don't forget your books!" A woman's voice called from the house. Reborn's instincts fired up, and his eyes darted to the gate of the house the dog came from. Tsuna looked, too, hearing the voice. He was praying no one was going to yell at him for touching the dog…

"I know!" A boy called back, and out stepped three teenagers, all wearing the Namimori Middle School Uniform. The foremost student, a boy, had lengthy straw blonde hair tied in a ponytail. His hair and sharp golden eyes reminded Tsuna of a manga character (haha… the irony…). He could say the same for the other two people.

Next was a boy with short dark blonde hair, with kind gray eyes, reminding Tsuna of his mother, while the last was a girl with bright yellow hair and deep blue eyes. The girl was very pretty, but he pushed the thought away. Kyoko-chan was obviously cuter than this girl. They didn't look like Japanese people… Perhaps these three were transfer students?

The girl's eyes looked at the black dog, and gasped.

"Black Hayate!" She knelt down. "How did you get out?"

"You didn't tie it properly, Winry," Reborn sternly replied, and the girl jumped, and looked at the baby. Tsuna gawked.

"I'm sorry! Really sorry!" Tsuna put himself between Reborn and "Winry." "He's been really rude today and-"

"It's fine…" Winry smiled brightly. "Kids can be very insightful these days!"

Tsuna sweatdropped. _Aren't you one, too?_

Reborn snorted and turned his attention to the two boys.

"You three are going to Namimori Junior High School?" He asked. The three nodded.

"Yeah!" The golden eyed blonde swung his bag over his shoulder. "We're going to be in Class 2A."

"Hm…" Reborn smiled. "Isn't that your class, Dame-Tsuna?"

"Hye?"

"We're in the same class?" the darker blonde's eyes beamed. "That's very nice!"

Soon the three newcomers and Reborn were immersed in deep conversation.

"Hello, Tsuna!" A cheerful voice was music to his ears. Winry, Ed, and Alphonse turned to see a young girl with short orange hair and honey yellow eyes.

"Ah… Ah… Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna, flustered as ever, was flushing greatly in the face. The girl then turned her attention to Reborn.

"Aw…" She smiled, bending down to stare at the baby hitman. "He's very cute! Is he your brother?"

"Ciaossu." Reborn greeted Kyoko, possibly charming her, too.

"Uh… um… yes!" Tsuna stammered, not knowing the right answer.

"That's great!" She smiled. "See you soon!"

Kyoko ran in the direction of the school with Tsuna standing there, dumbfounded.

"Do you like her?" the boy with gray eyes asked, and Tsuna began to splutter uncontrollably, and then talk escalated to Reborn's ridiculous idea to shoot Tsuna in the forehead with a bullet. As Tsuna fell down on the ground, motionless, and all the two blonde boys could do was gawk.

"Y-you… killed him!" One of them gasped. "What's with the friggin' gun?"

Suddenly the ground rumbled slightly, and they watched Tsuna rise to his feet, his clothes ripping apart, and he was only in his boxers. The boys lost their jaws at this point, and Winry was blushing at the sight of a nearly naked boy. Sadly, that image was ruined by the fact that Tsuna had a mad look in his eyes, and before the three teens could register anything, Tsuna was zooming away into distance, leaving a tall trail of flying dust behind him.

"What's with him?" one of the them raised an eyebrow. "Is he on high or something?"

"No, not at all," Winry sighed exasperatedly. She then picked up Tsuna's pack. "Let's get to school."

"Y-yeah…" The two boys nodded nervously, and with her in between them, they proceeded down the sidewalk in silence. Reborn, however, was sure that the girl knew who he was. They had met several times, but he could barely remember the name. Then the realization of another "pal" hit him.

"Winry Rockbell…" Reborn wondered aloud. "If she's here, that means Mustang is here, too…"

* * *

"Come on, guys! You're so slow!" Winry complained, with the Elrics following closely.

"Hey! You had work out time, and we didn't! For two years!" Ed shouted. "You think you'd be a bit nicer?"

"Nah," the blonde girl giggled, and she dragged them to the courtyard of Namimori high, where they witnessed the most hilarious scene ever. Tsuna was in his boxers, stretching his hand out to a Kyoko, who was scared out of her mind.

"H-hey…" Ed poked Al a bit. "Isn't that guy in the boxers the guy the baby shot?"

"I don't think so…" Al thought for a moment, "his eyes look different…"

Winry and Ed sweatdropped. _He's the same guy…_

"Ah well," Winry dragged the brothers away. "We've got to see the principal first."

* * *

"Ah, hello, sir?"

Winry opened the door to the office, seeing that no one answered when she knocked. "Anyone home?"

"Ah, yes," a voice answered. "Please do enter."

Then the three's blood ran cold. Just immediately, the three barged in onto the scene, with Al slamming the door sharply behind him. The person sitting at the desk was…

"Mustang?" They all shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't know?" Roy smiled evilly. "I'm principal of Namimori High. I have a side-job other than killing people, you know…"

"D-damn it…" Ed twitched. "You should've told us earlier!"

"Hehehe…" Roy sweatdropped. "Calm down, I'm just here for the first month. Seemingly, the actual principal is on leave for a while, so I'm just a substitute. Besides, it's easier to assess all of you on your mission while I'm close by."

"And it'll be easier for me to walk around," A high voice caught their attention to turn to a small person sitting upon the principal's desk.

"R-Reborn!" Winry smiled, seeing a familiar baby figure. "I'm sorry I treated you like that back there! There were witnesses!"

"It's fine," the baby smiled back, tipping his fedora. "I accept your apology."

"You're Reborn?" Ed asked. "But you're a baby…"

"Trust me," Roy smiled. "Reborn's a lot more dangerous than you see him. By the way, Reborn, those two boys are new additions to my team. Meet Alphonse and Edward Elric."

Reborn nodded, and Roy continued. "Now, on with our mission. We were in a hurry to Japan, and many of us fell asleep on the plane, so we didn't have time to go over everything."

Roy expertly tossed three folder's into the teens' hands. Ed, who was so used to these, opened the folder just when he got it, and looked through the papers, scanning through all the details and letting it all sink in.

"The boy we're going to look over is Tsunayoshi Sawada, Class 1A. He's on his first year here at Namimori Middle High. He may not look the part, but he's the last one in line to take on the Vongola Family to the Tenth Generation. As the Ninth had said yesterday, we've arranged your schedules and residences to be with him as close as possible. To accompany you, we have Reborn here, who is Tsuna's tutor. For now, just make sure he's in your sight. Understood?"

"Yeah." The three nodded, but before they left, Roy motioned them to stay.

"Oh, yeah… Just remembered. We have to go through procedures first… so Welcome, Students, to Namimori Middle High!"

"Oh no…" The three sighed exasperatedly. "Not the welcome speech…"

* * *

Poor Tsuna was dealing with the humiliation of being a perverted freak who danced onto school grounds half naked and trying to ask Kyoko, the school idol, out on a date. Luckily Reborn appeared out of nowhere, explained what the Dying Will Bullet was, and gave him a spare change of clothes, which he took quite willingly.

Still, he was ridiculed for showing up almost unclothed. He was now spending time grumbling to himself about how he shouldn't trust baby hitmen when…

"Ah, yes, the new students!" Mr. Nezu, the science teacher, noticed the sliding door.

"I apologize for being late," a girl's voice replied. "My brothers and I got lost, and the principal kept us for a while."

The voice then triggered something in Tsuna's head… that voice… couldn't possibly be…

"No worries! Please, come in!"

Footsteps were met with gasps of awe and swoons. Winry, the girl Tsuna met earlier, and her two male companions made a grand entrance to the room, and he couldn't help but notice that the background suddenly changed into bubbles and sparkles… what the heck?

"Oh my gosh… they're foreign!" A girl whispered.

"Whoa… that girl's my type…" A boy muttered.

"Now, please state your names," Mr. Nezu bowed politely, especially to Winry.

"Thank you," Winry bowed back. "My name is Winry Rockbell, and I look forward to enjoying school with you."

She smiled brightly, but inward she scowled at the fact that people, guys especially, were paying too close attention to her skirt. The grumpy blonde two steps away from her was greatly more annoyed about it than she was.

The boy with gray eyes and dirty blonde hair smiled. "I'm Alphonse Elric, and I, too am anticipating going to Namimori Middle High for the rest of the year."

The final one had a face fixed with a grumpy scowl. "I'm Edward Elric, and I'm just here because I am."

This rebellious attitude only earned more swoons from the girls and admiration by the boys. Nezu ignored it all and allowed the three to take seats… right around Tsuna.

Tsuna's mind continued to get jumpy, as he wondered what would happen if those three knew what just happened this morning…

"Hey."

Tsuna looked at Alphonse, who was peering over his shoulder at his notes. "I'm sorry to intrude on your work, but I think changing that formula to a different would be better."

"Really?"

"Yep." Alphonse smiled. "It won't work with that equation. Besides the other is faster."

"Oh… thanks…" Tsuna nodded uneasily and proceeded to grab his eraser and-

"Mr. Sawada!"

Tsuna could only squeak and fall out of his chair at the voice of his barking teacher.

"Your talking in class is unacceptable! Detention after school!"

Tsuna groaned as he got back to his chair, but Alphonse immediately shot up.

"I'm sorry, Nezu-sensei…" he raised his hand, too. "I was the one talking to Tsuna here. I should take full responsibility."

Everyone gasped. No one really stood up to Tsuna much, knowing he usually was the root of almost any trouble, and people who knew him better later would leave him alone…

Mr. Nezu, appalled at Alphonse's behavior, nodded. "As a new student, I'll let you go this time. Please do remember that talking out of turn in class will be a warning."

Alphonse nodded politely, and Tsuna sank back to his desk, nearly terrified and grateful that the boy stepped in for him.

Meanwhile, Al silently thought of Tsuna's docile behavior. From what Mustang explained, this was the subject. Tsuna was the 10th boss to be, but it was too unlikely. The poor boy was the laughing stock of the school already… It seems that Reborn tutor has a big job ahead of him…

* * *

"Wait… I share all the same classes with you…?" Tsuna stared in shock at the sight of the schedules. Winry and Al took theirs back, and sat back down to eat lunch.

"Yeah, pretty much," Ed sighed nonchalantly, sipping on his soda. Tsuna's mouth twitched. He was dead already… First humiliation from being a pervert (unintentionally), and now he has the same classes as these strange foreign people?

"This is horrible…" He muttered to himself. "The days of hell are starting…"

All he could do was blame that baby Reborn… Why did he have to ruin his day?

"Hey, Tsuna," a random student approached their table. Tsuna nearly shook the table for a start. "Captain Mochida says he wants to fight you."

"Hye?" Tsuna shrieked, while the three new students we know so well didn't say anything, let alone change a single expression on their faces. The cafeteria fell silent, and Everyone looked at Kyoko, who was sitting with Hana.

"Mochida-sempai said he wanted to get revenge on the insult you received, Kyoko," Hana explained. She was answered with a surprised look.

"He said he won't forgive anyone who makes Kyoko cry!" Another girl added cheerfully.

"Good for you, Kyoko," a table cheered.

"Th-That's not it," Kyoko sighed. "We're just in the same committee."

"Well, whatever," Hana sighed. "Afternoon break should be fun!"

Tsuna was merely pondering the corner. Him? Mochida? Fighting? Kendo? This was too much!

_I'll run away…. I'll run away… I swear-_

* * *

Immediately, Tsuna fled to the bathroom, not caring if anyone saw him… he was scared… He was going to get flogged… He's gonna die…

Panting furiously, he rushed to the window, opening it only to see the baby hanging upside down from the window.

"Are you running because you're scared?" Reborn asked innocently. Tsuna squeaked in fright, and was about to shut the door.

"I don't want some baby talking to me about life!" Tsuna said with anguish. "Mochida's the captain of the kendo club and won last year's tournament! No way can I win against a captain!"

"Then what would Sasagawa Kyoko think of you?" A voice asked, and Tsuna spun on his feet, seeing the principal.

"P-Principal Mustang!" Tsuna squeaked. Roy merely sighed.

"Even if you stand up and get totally thrashed," Roy stepped closer. "A guy who stands up and fights is much more favorable."

"He's right," Reborn nodded. "A boy who fights with all his might will stay in her memory forever."

"Huh?" Tsuna looked between Roy and Reborn, who were merely staring holes into him. "Since when did you two… know each… other…?"

"Anyways," Roy went on, disregarding Tsuna's question. "Let's get going to the cafeteria, ne?"

Reborn hopped onto the principal's shoulder, and all Tsuna could do was stare at the two in awe. For now, he'll assume Reborn was a close friend of Principal Mustang.

"You two…" He said in awe…

* * *

"Honestly, this is just a free period…" Ed sighed. "Can't we just get a tour of the school?"

"There's no one to do that, brother…" Al sighed.

"That's why we're going to see that match between the kendo captain and that poor boy!" Winry dragged the brothers around.

"Since when did Winry get so athletic?" Ed whined once they got to the gym.

The kendo captain, a boy with black spiky hair, was too full of himself, and he was laughing about how he would beat Tsuna anyway, because he rigged the game. Ed snorted at how teenagers could be so cruel, but then remembered that he used to be like this when he was a State Alchemist. The most prominent use of his craftiness was the Youswell mines… Suddenly he felt sorry for Sergeant Yoki… poor guy died because of Lust…

Kyoko, who was standing not so far away from Mochida, was watching ominously. Winry was sure she didn't want this guy saving her today. Alphonse thought the same, when a taller boy nudged him. The boy, just like Mochida, had spiky black hair, but his brown eyes were a lot more kinder.

"Ne, Alphonse-san," the boy smiled. "I'm hoping Tsuna will win… What do you think?"

"I really don't know…" Alphonse sighed. _I'm surprised people pick up my name around here… Maybe he's in my class…_

"Hey, guys!" one of the students shouted. "No-Good Tsuna's here!"

A rustle erupted in the crowd.

"Whoa… he really came…"

"Man… It'd be better if he ran away."

"The crazy guy…"

Alphonse could feel his fists tensing. This really wasn't fair… To be different… He was different… but people felt sorry for him… but then this boy was apprehended for his clumsiness… Wait. That's not really a good comparison…

"Tsuna…" the boy who talked to him muttered, and Alphonse looked up at the boy, who also felt sorry for the young brunette.

Tsuna was still standing at the gym door, wearing his gym clothes. He was frozen on the spot.

_What do I do…? I came here because of Reborn and Principal Mustang…_

Feet slightly trembling, he warily stepped into the large room, making his way into the center of the court, where Mochida, already equipped in the armor for Kendo warriors, stood.

"There you are, perverted stalker! May heaven forgive you, but I won't!" Mochida taunted playfully, and the crowd followed suit. Alphonse, Winry, Edward, and the boy remained silent, seeing it unwise to taunt a potential comeback.

"I shall punish you!" Mochida declared, but Tsuna raised his hands slightly.

"Wait… there was a reason for what happened…"

Mochida didn't hesitate to point his wooden kendo sword at the boy's noise, earning a loud squeak from Tsuna.

"Don't worry, since you're a beginner at kendo," Mochida laughed. "so if you can get at least a single point off of me, I win. If you can't, I win."

"Hey…" Ed asked Winry. "How does kendo work?"

"It's a sword-fighting martial arts," the boy that talked to Alphonse explained. "Because the sword are made of wood, it's not that bad, but they can bruise people, so that's what's the heavy armor's for. Technically, people use certain techniques with a sword to win by hitting their opponent at the abdomen armor."

"That sounds easy," Alphonse sighed. The boy then laughed heartily.

"It's actually not easy, with a lot a rules and stuff. I've okay at it, actually, but for most people, it's hard, and it takes a few years before you can be like the captain over there."

"The prize, of course, is Kyoko Sasagawa!" Mochida pointed his sword at Kyoko, who was looking very concerned with the ongoing match. Tsuna stared helplessly at her, hoping she could save him from this…

"P-prize…?" Winry hissed angrily. "You don't treat women that way, no you don't!"

"What a jerk," Ed sighed. "This won't be faring well…"

"Let's go!" Mochida declared, readying his stance. Tsuna walked backwards, but a voice called him back.

"Tsuna!"

He turned, and saw a boy holding a spare kendo stick. The boy tossed, and Tsuna caught it with fumbling hands. Alphonse stared wide-eyed at the boy. This guy really knows how to help…

"Hey, you two…" Winry silently pointed for only the Elrics to see. "There's Reborn."

Indeed, there was the baby, at the corner of the window, holding something only Hawkeye would ever use…

"With a rifle!" Ed hissed. "What's going on?"

"He's going to fire a bullet," Winry whispered. "called a Dying Will Bullet."

As Winry rambled on about how it worked, Ed noticed that the match had already started, with Tsuna already losing the grip of the kendo stick, and he was now being chased around the gym by Mochida, who was waving his own stick like a rioting madman.

"Stop! You can't escape!" Mochida shouted. Ed then lost patience.

"Honestly, when is Reborn going to shoot?" He asked Winry.

"When he thinks it's time."

Tsuna was already swept off his feet, and now he was on his back, facing Mochida, who was already ready to hit him. Then a smirk came from both Winry and Reborn's faces.

"Time to fight… with your dying will…"

* * *

"Whoa…" Ed and Al sweatdropped. "I can't believe that happened again… he's in his boxers… at least no one's laughing at him…"

Everyone was shocked that a klutz like Tsuna could turn into some rabid man and even tear Mochida-sempai's hair off… That was really hardcore…

Kyoko was having a small talk with Tsuna. While Winry and Ed, having a strange feeling, glanced at the door, where a mysterious person stood, watching the ongoing chatter. The man turned away. Winry and Ed wanted to follow, but the celebration kept them away, leaving them to their own thoughts.

* * *

"The Vongola's Tenth Generation Boss, Sawada Tsunayoshi," a gray haired teen snorted. "So that's his name…"

Roy, who was sorting papers in his office, noticed a familiar person walking across the courtyard. With the window open, he could hear everything. With a wide smile, he leaned on his hand, watching the stranger walk away. He'll come back, for sure, and this guy will be at the top of his and Reborn's list of candidates.

"What brings you here, Hayato Gokudera?" Roy smiled outside. "I didn't think you were so determined… Hm…"


	4. Hurricane of Dynamite

**Another Hero of the People – Chapter 4 – Hurricane of Dynamite**

_

* * *

"Oh, yeah, Roy's a hitman, too."_

_ "Principal Mustang? But how-"_

_ "He's a skilled explosives expert." Reborn crawled into bed. "I've heard he can just snap his fingers and blow up an entire town right after that."_

_ "But… that's scary?" Tsuna wailed. But he stopped to think. He should have suspected Principal Mustang to be strange. No normal man would walk around with a big black eyepatch on his face. But he head was met with the green mallet._

_ "Stop whining," Reborn sighed, ignoring Tsuna's whimpers and climbed into Tsuna's bed. "I'll make sure you can do things like that someday."_

_ "What? You teach me? How to blow up towns…?"_

_ "Go to sleep," That was all Reborn said that night, and the same night, Tsuna found out the baby rigged his bed with traps._

* * *

"RUN MY HUNDRED KILOMETERS TO THE EXTREME!"

Ed jolted out of his bed and landed headfirst on the floor. Swearing, he massaged his head and looked out the window (the night before, he began to complain that his room was facing a window, and Armstrong, so Roy decided to give him the spare room, using his former room as a storage room).

"First I had a wall, and now I have a shouting exercise fanatic for a wakeup call," He sighed, peering over the windowpane, and he turned his attention to changing for school that day. He hadn't been to school for a long time… he really didn't need to, either, actually… he dropped out just when he and Al were determined to get their mother back, and they spent days studying, apparently and miraculously poring through their father's archive in a space of a week.

He eyed a small marblee he snuck into the house the day before. He brought it for a test. Lazily, he clapped his hands together as if in prayer, and a small hum came from his hands. Taking them apart, he placed his fingers on the little sphere, and the stone riveted up in miniature ripples of white. When he was finished, a beautiful figurine of winged horse stood on the desk. Admiring his handiwork, he grabbed his school bag, and swung the door shut behind him.

* * *

Tsuna closed the door behind him, still unsatisfied with the news Reborn brought to him… He was going to be the Tenth boss of a mafia family… that was reassuring… Moreover, his principal was a pyromaniac assassin… Just as pleasant… Wait… maybe Reborn was playing around with him! No way could Principal Mustang be part of the mafia! Sure the man loves fire (he always asked the teachers about fireplaces and always paid visits to Chemistry and Physics if there was a lab involving fire), but that doesn't mean he's a pyromaniac.

"Hey, Tsuna," Alphonse's voice made the poor brunette jump in fright. Ed joined his younger brother nearby Tsuna's gate.

"Hey… no need to get so worked up," Ed sighed. "We'll walk with to school, if that helps."

"S-sure…" Tsuna nodded. The Elrics glanced at their house beside Tsuna's, and Winry had yet to appear.

Al explained to the clueless boy, "Winry likes to sleep in a lot. She likes to stay up taking things apart. I think she did that to the radio last week."

Ed added. "We'll just have to take forever waiting for her lazy as-"

His words were cut off by a flying wrench at his head. The blonde toppled over, half dead when said girl stomped up to his feet. She was already in her uniform, contrast to Ed's words.

"Now, who said I was-" She then noticed Tsuna, who was pale and speechless, and Alphonse, who was grinning sheepishly.

"Oh, hi, Tsuna," she smiled, forgetting about what she was angry about earlier. "Let's get going to school, shall we?"

"Wait!" Ed got up. "What about me? And this big bruise on the side of my cheek?"

"It's only a flesh wound, right, brother?" Alphonse smiled, and Ed grumbled at his brother's optimism, but was shoved into walking with Winry and Tsuna.

"I've heard today's going to be a volleyball tournament," Winry smiled. Ed and Al looked at her quizzically, not sure what 'volleyball' was. "Um… it's a game where you hit a ball over a net to the other side while other people try to hit it back… I learned how to play it last year."

"How high is the net?" Al asked. Winry tapped her chin.

"I don't remember, but obviously tall enough for Ed to not make it."

"Who are you calling short?" Ed growled.

Alphonse and Tsuna laughed nervously, but Tsuna felt strange. Suddenly these three just take him in, not bothering to consider how much trouble he could cause for them… They were really sticking to him like glue…

"Hey, Tsuna."

"Hye? Yeah?" Tsuna looked at Ed.

"You look sleepy…"

Tsuna groaned. "I can't even stay awake, let alone the fact I have to be there to be for a volleyball match. I mean volleyball… I can't even play it…"

"I thought there were extras, and the team, too." Winry wondered.

"For some reason, almost all of them are unable to play," Ed said. "The General said they were sick from food poisoning, because they were eating from the same pizza shop last night."

This caused Tsuna to blanch and start walking lopsidedly.

"Still…" Tsuna sighed. "That's not going to keep me awake…"

"Something kept you up?" Al asked.

"I slept on the floor." Tsuna answered flatly.

"You rolled off the bed?"

"No. Someone took my bed for the night."

This only set a lot of giggles coming from Winry. Tsuna, Al, and Ed stared at her in question.

"I knew that would happen." She commented, and she bounded off.

* * *

"Volleyball…" Ed read through the sports book he found lying in the hall. "So that's how you play it…"

"What are you looking at, brother?" Al peered over his shoulder.

"Winry didn't give me enough information on volleyball, so I thought I'd check it out myself."

"Cool," Al nodded. "Can I see it?"

"Suit yourself," Ed passed the book on to Al, who eagerly grabbed the book, and buried his nose into it. Winry watched warily, overlooking the expanse sandy sports grounds outside. Ed watched her, and joined in on it, too.

"No one there," Ed sighed, but Winry shook her head.

"I've been told people could make illusions," She muttered. Tsuna, who watched the three new students, sighed inwardly. People who don't know volleyball re watching the empty yard outside like there was some exciting football game out there… that's kinda funny…

* * *

"Hey, did you hear?" Hana's voice was heard around the room. "There's another new guy today."

"Another one?" A classmate tilted his head in confusion. "Suddenly our school turned popular or something…"

When class settled down with the arrival of the teacher, a shadow was seen behind the closed classroom door. Winry, Ed, and Al were quite ready to pounce, for they felt some killing intent behind that door.

"Ahem, class," Mr. Nezu smiled. "Today, we have yet another transfer student. Ah, please, you may come in."

The door was slammed open and shut. A boy, with silvery gray hair and sharp gray-green eyes stalked to the middle of the class, then turning to glare at the class.

Gokudera passed by Winry's desk, and only gave a snort of disgust, while the girl pouted and began staring holes into the back of Ed's head, who was in front of her.

* * *

"I fell asleep during science…" Tsuna muttered to himself. "I didn't understand a single tad thing about it…"

"Hey, Tsuna!" Yamamoto greeted the boy. "Guess what? Even though I'm from baseball, people want me to join volleyball team. I said yes, of course! I feel like it's a challenge! You're playing for the volleyball tournament today, too, right?"

The clumsy brunette squeaked and toppled off his seat, and got up, massaging his head.

"I guess… so…"

Yamamoto laughed heartily. "That's great. Ever since your fight with Mochida-sempai, we all think that another miracle's gonna happen. Isn't that funny, Tsuna?"

"It's not a miracle…" Tsuna thought at the back of his mind. "It's Reborn…"

He heard Ed snicker quietly from beside him, and all the boys turned their attention to the former State Alchemist.

"I've heard you're pretty good at sports, Ed-san," One boy asked the ponytail blonde, who was sitting nearby. "Why didn't you or your friends sign up?"

"I just got here yesterday," Ed answered flatly. "Just because I was able to kick a soccer ball into the goal last evening isn't going to get me into a volleyball team. Al hasn't even done anything, and Winry is a girl. She would end up on the girl's team, and that would be quite useless."

A small tinge of disappointment filled their faces as Ed was left to his reading. Tsuna couldn't help but notice that Ed seemed a bit skeptical of the term "volleyball…" This wasn't something he noticed every day, but he had the burning thought about it.

* * *

Tsuna came in stumbling into the court, with half the crowd jeering again, and the other half cheering, hoping for the big moment Tsuna made a miracle happen.

"Poor Tsuna…" Winry watched the boy fall for the fifth time. "He's trying, but it's not helping, isn't it?"

Then they noticed a familiar gun model hanging from the window near the roof. It hit Tsuna's legs, and the boy fell flat on his back. Everyone began to stare at the boy, but he got up and shrugged. Ed and Al looked at Winry, who shrugged.

"That's funny," she said quietly. "Usually those should work…"

But the time came when Tsuna had to hit the ball. He sprang from the ground and began to soar higher into the air, higher and higher, and he should be hitting the ball soon…

The Elrics and Winry winced at the results, and everyone gasped at Tsuna's situation.

"Oh… god…" Ed blanched. "Reborn planned this to happen, right?"

"Probably," Winry sighed. "He takes training off the standards. It's funny, if you're not the student."

"Poor Tsuna," Al whimpered. "I miss Teacher a lot now…"

* * *

They walked down the hall, discussing the volleyball match from earlier. Surprisingly, Namimori actually won the game, and Tsuna was left limping off to the locker rooms, sadly. Lunch on a minimum day was near, and they decided that the courtyard would be a good place to eat. Just as they passed by the offices, Roy stepped out, with a rather blank expression on Ed.

"What do you want, Mustang?" Ed asked with a small hint of annoyance.

"I suggest you hurry to the small street behind the school," he said briskly. "I saw Tsuna hanging around by himself a while ago. He seems to be waiting for someone."

"Look," Ed shook his head. "We're not stalkers."

"But you need to keep an eye on him," Roy folded his arms. "I'm busy here, so you're going to have take the shift. Good luck."

Roy went past them to the cafeteria, only to make Ed growl.

"Bastard," He muttered. "He just wants his lunch."

Then an explosion echoed through the halls, sending the three teens into a panic.

"Crap!" Ed shouted as they ran down the hall. "I don't remember people setting bombs in a school!"

"It's coming from where Tsuna was!" Al yelled. "Hurry!"

But Ed was already a long way ahead. Adrenaline, he thought, must be the adrenaline.

* * *

Much to Ed's annoyance, the explosions stopped once they reached the door, where they saw Tsuna in his boxers, surrounded by sticks of dynamite. They assumed that the boy diffused all of them, according to the charred ends of the dynamite, and his hot red hands. A silver haired boy was standing against a wall, panting heavily, utterly shocked.

Tsuna sighed, slightly disoriented. "Whew… somehow I made it…"

Immediately, the silver haired boy dropped down to his knees, hailing the brunette with many compliments and a request to be part of the 10th generation family. As Reborn began to explain about gaining subordinates for a mafia family to a confused Tsuna, Ed could hear both Winry and Al giggling silently behind him. He, on the other hand, thought this was flat-out ridiculous.

"Good job, Tsuna," Reborn smiled. "You got yourself your first subordinate. I think I'll actually not give you the mallet tomorrow."

"Wait, what?"

The boy, Gokudera Hayato, as Ed had heard, looked sideways and noticed the three of them, and held out a handful of dynamite. Ed was beginning to think this was even more ridiculous.

"Really, dynamite?" Ed sighed. "Are weapons getting more unique in the mafia?"

Gokudera's temper seemed to flare, but Tsuna's frantic urge for him to stop made him bow down to Tsuna again like a lost puppy, pleading for forgiveness and swearing he would never stain his "Tenth's" reputation again.

Eventually Yamamoto somehow made his way into the crowd, and he got instant admittance into Tsuna's family, which surprised the three Amestrians even more. Just as Ed, who felt a bit generous to help people, handed Gokudera his bookbag, the bomber snatched the bag, his quick hand slapping Ed's fist a bit too hard, and he heard a small clang of metal. Ed gulped at the sound, and Gokudera's face seemed quite shocked at the sound.

"Your arm… it's automail… isn't it…" Gokudera said flatly. Ed was close to sputtering and denying it, but that wouldn't help.

"Yeah, so what..? And how did you know about automail?"

"That blonde over there was babbling about all day last year," Gokudera snarled, his eyes briefly flitting to Winry. "Unfortunately, I had to attend an event she was at, too."

Ed shook his head in substitution for a laugh. "Hm… Winry's very passionate about her work… But I noticed that you had some book on magical creatures in Japan lying out of your book bag. I'm sorry to ask, but are there any many mentions of chimeras?"

Gokudera's eyes lit up with the near same excitement he had when he was put into Tsuna's family. "You bet there is! There's ten whole chapters about them! You read this stuff?"

"I used to look into that stuff," Ed nodded. "Since it's connected to…"

He stopped himself. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone about alchemy, but since Gokudera's in Tsuna's family…

"Alchemy, right?" Gokudera completed the sentence with big smile, taking Ed by surprise (He could read minds?). "I read about it, too… haven't been able to do anything with that knowledge, though. I only got my hands on three books so far."

"What did you read?" Ed asked quickly, wondering if the texts about alchemy were different from the ones he learned back in Amestris.

"Well…"

Just as Gokudera and Ed were about to plunge into a long conversation about science, Winry waved her hand furiously.

"Well, can we go now, Ed?" Winry smiled, but the silver-haired teen snarled.

"Who cares about you, mechanical freak?"

Ed and Al paled at the statement, and Winry stopped walking, turned around with a large smile still plastered on her face. "What did you… SAY?"

"You know that weird metal contraption you fixed at my place in Italy. It broke. And you call yourself a master at fixing things…"

"IT WAS A PROTOTYPE, DAMNIT! GIVE ME SOME SLACK, YOU JERK!"

Al took the liberty of holding the girl back from beating the silver haired boy. Gokudera and Ed seemed to immediately gain some sort of acquaintance.

"You put up with her?" Gokudera looked at Ed. "I can't seem to see how you do it."

Ed sighed. "Winry's always like this. Whenever someone insults her mechanic skills, she explodes like Mt. Vesuvius…"

"What's that?" Al asked, struggling to keep Winry from moving and straining to hear over her shouts.

"It's a volcano in Italy." Gokudera got up.

Ed got in front of Winry. "Hey, just stay calm…"

Then his face met with a flying wrench, which lead to more swearing and shouting and explosions. Tsuna, still in his boxers, was squirming away from the scuffle, terrified that they just might destroy the school at this point. Yamamoto laughed, talking about how he wanted to join in. This later led to a greater scuffle when a bunch of delinquents attempted to jump Tsuna while no one was looking. Those boys were met with the angry bomber and an enraged boy with an arm as hard as metal.

Meanwhile, Nana was running about the supermarket, seeing if there were any sales…

* * *

Apparently, Roy was typing away on something he called a "laptop." Apparently he seemed to spend his life on this thing. Ed and Al had yet to understand the technology of their future.

"You look tired, Ed," Roy sighed. He now got used to calling Ed by his nickname rather than his military title. They were no longer in the military, so their rank and titles barely mattered anymore. But the boy looked off today. He had been very tired for the past two days every since he returned to them. His brother wasn't as bad, but Al too seemed weary.

"I'm fine," Ed grumbled and plopped down on the couch, his head bowed.

"You seen Al or Winry?"

"Yeah, they were going to take Tsuna somewhere," Ed answered flatly. "I'm just thinking things over, that's all…"

Roy already understood Ed's situation, but he decided not to press it until now. The Flame Alchemist did his research (he was quite fond of the "websites" they made, but it was slightly hard to look at a bright screen with letters on them. Still, he got the information he needed…

"1945," Roy stated, making Ed look up with surprised.

"What about it?"

"You saw it all, didn't you? The Holocaust…"

A deep growl came from Ed as he laid back on the couch.

"Yeah, both Al and I saw it," he said quietly. "We had to disguise ourselves when we were passing through big cities. I didn't let Al see the camps."

A small pause came between them.

"Which one?"

"Birkenau."

"What did you do?"

"We had to pass by, now stop asking me questions."

"I have every right to know about my subordinates, Edward." Roy said sternly. "You were gone for two years, you come back to Amestris for a few hours and go away for another year, then we go looking for you only to end up not in Amestris, where we waited another two years to find you."

"And you all miss me," Ed finished it.

"Ed, just tell me," Roy sighed. "You should at least say something, especially if you did pass by Birkenau. What did you do? I know that someone like you wouldn't just leave it be."

Ed hadn't looked at Roy the entire time, nor did Roy raise his voice at all. There wasn't any need to. Roy looked at Ed, who wasn't looking back. "How long did you stay there?"

"A month," Ed replied finally in defeat. "We couldn't do anything… both Al and I… There were too many people we weren't be able to get a hold of… If we had alchemy it would have been easier…"

Roy closed his laptop, and got up, setting the notebook onto the chair. He seemed to be making his way to the kitchen for some late cup of coffee, seeing that he passed Ed on the sofa, but what caught the boy off guard the most was the hand that ruffled his blonde hair.

"I only saw the pictures," Roy said quietly. "They remind me of Ishval. It seems that what I read wasn't all that happened… am I right?"

Ed answered with a quick yes. Roy sighed.

"So we're on level ground now, huh…" he mused.

**A/N: Those who don't know what happened to Tsuna at the volleyball game, please do read it. Finals are this week, and I must study! but I felt like writing, so I uploaded some chapters (my excuse... I'm writing as a preparation for English?). Well, two questions popped up since last chapter.**

**1) Will any of the Elrics be an extra guardian? **Before, I considered doing that for both of them, but I decided to drop it, because that's becoming too much of a recurring theme in Reborn fanfiction. Although there is a legitimate Snow Ring now (it's featured in a DS game for Reborn, btw), I will not use it in this story.

**2) Is Mustang and his staff part of the Vongola?** As a matter of fact, they are. Roy is one of their best hitmen, and everyone else works under him, including Winry. Ed and Al have not been officially been stated as members of the Vongola, so this will a key in later elements of the story. I have an original arc for this story, and it focuses on the minor characters.

**Oh, and my old English Homework made its way to this story, so you get a parentalRoyEd moment about the Holocaust because with Ed and Al traveling around Europe, it's unavoidable that they somehow come across a concentration camp, but without alchemy and little practice in sparring for more than a year, they're obviously not in good shape to just stroll into camp and knock out all the soldiers there. So that explains their uselessness. But we will safely assume that Noah, the Rosa doppleganger in the Shamballa movie, survived, and was able to escape out of Germany, where she started a life anew. Poor Ed and Al...**

**Although, I did land upon a story where the Elrics do become prisoners at those camps, but they die tragically at the hands of Dr. Mengele (creepy guy, I must say) after they save an alternate version of Trisha who survives and has two little boys by the name of Ed and Al.  
**

**Chapter 5: While Ed, Winry, and Al are having a very good time at school, and Roy is busy maintaining Namimori High, the rest of the cast have yet to get themselves a job other than killing Vongola enemies. Just their luck, the city seems to be full of "Need employment" signs... right? Just the ones that aren't their interests. Hawkeye and Havoc compete to gain a job at a local shooting range, Breda tries to find any sort of place about food. They seem to have hard time, except Falman, Fury, and Armstrong. Falman and Fury easily get into a city news office and find easy connections to the forensics department of the police, meeting a familiar character. As for Armstrong, well... the gym has extra spots for a fitness teacher.**


	5. Job Search

**Another Hero of the People – Chapter 5 – Job Search**

* * *

Whenever Roy wasn't "home" to be in control of the group, Hawkeye took it upon herself to be the leader. And she was very talented at her current position.

Currently, Havoc and Breda were fighting over the job listings paper, while Fury was on the phone (he was very fascinated with his "cell phone"). Falman was trying to find peace in the kitchen with his coffee mug, and Armstrong was looking through the videos Fury put on his cellphone. This was how Riza's morning started as she walked down the stairs, quite ready to go outside.

She seemed almost ready to draw her gun and shoot the roof with it, but she worried that she would startle the neighbors, so she merely stared coldly at them as she stood at the stairs. The squabbling immediately stopped with little resistance, and she made her way to the base of the stairs. They all assembled themselves on the couch, and on the floor, if there was no room. No one wanted to upset the wife of Mustang.

"You didn't break anything, did you?" She asked flatly, directing her gaze particularly to Havoc, who shook his head furiously.

"Good."

Within seconds, everyone had a clipboard in hand, and Riza began her small briefing.

"Today, since we're in a new city," She began. "We will have to find jobs. Everyone needs to sustain for themselves, and I don't want any of the team lugging around like a band of bumbling baboons. Even though Vongola is sending us funds to use, we'll have to use it for more important purposes. That's why we have to go to work. Clear?"

All of them nodded.

"I attached a job listing on those clipboards for each of you, so no one will be fighting for one." She stared warily at both Breda and Havoc, who shivered slightly. "I'm sure you'll use that GPS installed in your phones. Use it well."

After more reading over certain details, she then sent them out the door with a big kick. The men fell into a heap outside the door, with Riza slipping on a pair of glasses as she closed the gate behind her.

* * *

"Um… is this the right place…?" Falman and Fury were aghast at the massive building. It was one of the tallest skyscrapers in downtown, and they were going to wonder how tall the elevator was.

"It's the correct number," Falman flipped through the clipboard. Fury fumbled with his camera bag and took the lead, with Falman following. They pushed through the swinging doors and noticed the many businessmen and women jostling through the crowd of people. It was the morning rush, and everyone wanted to be at work on time.

"I think the news office is on floor six," Falman noted, tucking the clipboard under his arm. They managed to get into the next crowd of people for the elevator and found themselves staggering out of the door and into a bustling hall of cubicles. Everyone was calling someone, or typing something and calling. Someone was a despairing and flinging papers for the more busy-like effect.

Fury grabbed hold of a secretary, who looked back at him with quite charming eyes. She then noticed their appearance, and set down her small share of papers on a table.

"Are you two the new journalist and the photographer we asked for last week?" The lady asked with some hope in her voice.

"Um… yes…" Fury nodded.

"I apologize that the Chief is unable to see you today, but he has already set up an assignment for you. You are to go find more information about this case. We have already set up passes for you to enter the police building and the forensics department. They are inside those files. I believe your equipment is ready?"

"Yes." Fury nodded, showing her his camera bag. She then took half of the papers she was holding and gave them to Falman.

"You are to meet with the chief of the forensics department. He should provide you the details of the case."

She then went back to delivering papers, and Fury and Falman glanced at each other in confusion.

"Is it just me, or did that lady look like a taller version of Shieska?" Falman stroked his chin. Fury shrugged and they entered the cramped elevator, on their first day to work.

* * *

"Hmm…. Namimori Recreational Park…" Riza stared at the massive sign with said name. She walked into the park, her sneakers crunching on the gravel road. The former lieutenant approached a rather large house, where a series of gunshots were echoing in the silence of the woods. She found the door on the other side of the building, and swung it open.

Much to her expectations, she saw a large expanse plated in by large steel walls, completely clumped with weeds and dirt. A line of targets were placed up in the middle of the expanse, and right before her, some men were busy reloading their rifles to take another shot at a bull's eye.

"Yo, Hawkeye," A familiar voice caught her attention, and she met the triumphant face of Havoc, who was leaning on the counter. He was wearing a tan polo shirt and dark olive pants.

"Got here first," He smiled, but he stopped when he could feel her cold gaze freezing him over. Immediately, a large buffy man stepped out from the room behind the front room, and he looked at Riza.

"You must be the second new employee here, yeah?" He asked, and Riza nodded stiffly. He then smiled and led her to the back rooms.

"Your locker has already been set for you," The man watched her step through the doorway. "You have the pass, yes?"

Riza stopped and nodded before continuing into the rooms. The employer and Havoc looked at each other knowingly, quite anxious about what they had in store for the lieutenant. They heard the slow creaking of a locker, and then a subsequent slam. They waited a minute, but she didn't come back.

"That was very funny," Riza's voice shocked the two of them. They whipped their heads around and saw her right behind them.

"How did you get there?" the employer sputtered. Riza's lips tightened into a more severe frown.

"I took the back door," She said, and held out the uniform that was similar to Havoc's, only one thing. Instead of a pair of pants, there was a tan miniskirt. Havoc and the employer's blood was chilled to the bone, as if they saw a dark blue aura emanating from her head.

"I would like the pants version of this uniform," She said briskly, her expression unchanged. "Please."

The employer scrambled to his feet and raced back into the stores, and hurriedly gave her the requested article of clothing. Havoc sighed at his employer was sweating from the pressure.

"See?" He muttered as Riza went back into the lockers again. "Told you the miniskirt idea was bad."

"Oh, shut it," the employer waved him off. "She's creepy."

"Oh, wait till you see her teaching grown men how to shoot," Havoc smirked.

* * *

Falman nervously fidgeted at the sight of the assistant of the Chief of Forensics… The woman with a nametag, Hitomi, was busy typing away into a computer. She was not saying anything, or noticing anything but the computer, until she went back to looking through papers.

"You needed something?" She asked coldly, her eyes not drifting from the paper.

"We wanted to see the Chief of Forensics Department…" Fury answered nervously. "Um… we're reporters from the Namimori News… We were supposed to be here for an interview today with the Chief…"

"The Chief, you say?" Hitomi looked up inquisitively. "He's been waiting for you, actually."

"Oh, thanks…" Falman and Fury nodded curtly and went in the direction the officer directed them to go. They nervously opened the door, forgetting the sign on the wall, when they heard a man laughing and saying incoherent things, while another man was pleading for the other to leave him alone. A tall man ran out of the room, his eyes streaming and his arms flailing.

"Please!" He shouted, and he was off. Immediately, the office's owner stepped out, holding an album of pictures of a little girl.

"Oh, come back here, Satoshi!" He shouted. "I was supposed to give you the papers!"

Falman and Fury gasped at the sight of the Chief as he turned around. Short black-brown hair, clearly unshaved stubble… a long face, and nice square glasses with it. He was wearing a simple dress shirt and a black tie, along with black pants and shoes. His surprised face then turned into adoration as he flung his album at the reporters' faces.

"Would you like to see some pictures of my daughter?" He squealed. "She's so adorable, don't you think so?"

"Eh?" Fury squeaked as the Chief grabbed a hold of their arms and yanked them into the office. They yelped right before the door was slammed shut behind them. Fury and Falman were gasping, as they noticed just how cluttered the room was. The wall was littered with clippings and photos and arrangements, not mercifully leaving any gaps for the boring beige wall to come through. The room was well-lit, at least, with at least two lamps filling the entire room with light.

"Man… they think I'm insane…" The Chief chuckled, folding away his album of pictures. Fury and Falman were both speechless once they noticed the plat on the name tag. Maes Hughes… Maes Hughes… Maes Hughes…

"What the hell?" Falman flung his arms into the air. Hughes looked up at Falman with a skeptic expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, did I miss something?" The Chief asked, eyeing the two reporters. "You came for an interview, yeah?"

"Ehehehe…." Fury laughed nervously while patting poor Falman's back. "We just noticed how you looked like an old friend of ours…"

"Oh, I see…" Hughes nodded absentmindedly and sank into his chair, arranging a few things on his disorderly desk. "You wanted to ask about that recent case, yeah?"

"Um, yes!" Falman nodded, and quickly took a seat. "We wanted to begin with this question…"

* * *

Tsuna was yawning as he entered the kitchen. Today was Saturday, and he was quite glad to be able to wake up early. He saw his mom set his breakfast, and he scrambled to it, hoping Reborn wouldn't take it from him this time. Nana was singing a cheerful tune, and Reborn was enjoying a morning coffee, thinking of the upcoming training session tomorrow.

"What's gotten you so happy, mom?" Tsuna asked, and Nana turned around, swinging her spatula and a newspaper.

"Have you heard about the new gym instructor at the fitness center?" Nana laughed and showed Tsuna the paper. "He's quite the looker, as all the women had said!"

Tsuna gawked at the picture of a large buffy man with one too many muscles. He was flexing them for greater measure, and all the people in the fitness class were attempting the same pose, but lacked the ability to outshine the teacher. Tsuna couldn't help but think that he had seen this man around the neighborhood somewhere, or rather, he heard the man wake up the entire neighborhood a few days ago. Reborn was quite pleased with the poster, and he placed his coffee on the table.

"You know," He said. "That man is one of the Vongola operatives based here."

"Hye?" Tsuna shrieked and pointed at the news. "You mean, that guy?"

"Yeah," Reborn nodded, taking another sip of coffee. "There's a whole lot of them, and they live quite close by, since they need to make sure no one comes to kill you."

"What Tenth?" Tsuna gasped. "I'm not gonna be a mafia boss!"

"Oh, Tenth!" Gokudera raced into the kitchen. "Did I hear that someone is out to kill you? I will exterminate them immediately!"

"Gokudera-kun, how did you get in?" Tsuna gawked at the silver haired bomber. Nana laughed as she entered the kitchen.

"Your friend was acting so lively outside," She smiled. "So I let him in."

"Thank you, mother of the Tenth!" Gokudera greeted her. "And thank you for the breakfast!"

"Oh, you're too kind!" Nana smiled as she presented the table with more food. Tsuna could assume that she expected that more people would be coming in to eat today.

Just at the right moment, the doorbell rang, and Gokudera, not wishing to tire the Tenth, went running to the door and opened it. His cheery face then turned into a glower.

"Oh, it's you, mechanical freak," He glowered at a glaring blonde, who was just as unpleased to see him. "Why are you here, anyway?"

She was accompanied by a pair of reluctant brothers, both seemingly half-awake from having been dragged out of their rooms.

"Tsuna's mom was kind enough to invite us to breakfast," Winry said. "You have a problem with that?"

"No, not really," Gokudera answered flatly. "Just don't hurt the Tenth in any way if you walk into this house."

* * *

**A/N: **Long awaited update! I apologize deeply for the inconvenience. I'm sorry if this is heavily sloppy for the moment, because I want to provide closure to something before jumping many arcs. Anyways, I really don't want to work on rewriting every single arc that existed in Reborn for the rest of my life, so...

I'm just skipping all of it, and get started on the main point of the story itself.


End file.
